


tell the world that we finally got it all right

by ameliajessica



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: F/M, Prompt Fill, admitting feelings sort of, making out in closets, standard j/a lbr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-06
Updated: 2014-02-06
Packaged: 2018-01-11 10:44:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1172119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ameliajessica/pseuds/ameliajessica
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Orginally a prompt by leap_of_faith81: </p><p>"IT'S A BEAR DANCE!" Chaos ensues! Riot! Food fight! Jeff and Annie hiding from the mayhem!</p>
            </blockquote>





	tell the world that we finally got it all right

**Author's Note:**

> Set during 5x06, after Garrett's discovery. It's my first fill ever so that's exciting! On to the fic!

_"IT'S A BEAR DANCE!"_

The effect of Garrett's shriek is instantaneous. The dance comes to an abrupt halt before Annie leans over and yanks the ears of the nearest fat dog and gasping loudly in horror. Jeff had been about to make his way over to her and now she turns to him, holding the fluffy ear in her hand accusingly.

The room erupts into chaos the moment he opens his mouth to explain himself, the decorations being torn down as people begin to roar wordlessly in outrage.

"Who would do this?" Chang screeches as he holds a cardboard bear over his head and rips it in half.

Without thinking, Jeff runs to Annie, slings her over his shoulder and crouches to avoid the pieces of cardboard bear flying above their heads, being piled into the centre of the room. Ignoring her yelps of protest and fists pounding on his back, Jeff tries to calculate in his head how long they have until the riot works out who exactly was involved in the Bear Down/Fat Dog Dance situation; with Chang on their side, it could be moments.

"Let's go," Annie says suddenly, kicking her leg into him.

When turns to see what she's looking at, he's faced with a fire lit in the centre of the room.

Right, then.

Out of habit he goes towards the study room, because in a time of crisis what can seem safer than the study rom, right? "Too obvious," Annie says from over his shoulder before he even reaches it.

Jeff's starting to panic as he hears frantic voices makign their way down the hall. "Well what do you suggest then?" he says through gritted teeth.

"Turn me around," she orders, and they awkwardly maneuver her around so Jeff's giving her a piggy back.

"You know you could just walk?" he points out.

Annie whacks him on the back of his head and points ahead. "Onwards!"

Jeff rolls his eyes but hoists her up into an easier position to carry. He's already picked her up once today, after. She gives him directions until finally they stop outside of a supply closet. "Why here?" he asks.

"Locks on the inside." Jeff isn't sure he wants to know how she knows that. "Vaughn," she answers anyway.

Yep. He didn't want to know.

Annie slides down his back - which Jeff does not notice or register at all - and reaches around him to open the door and push him in impatiently. Just as they get inside they hears maniacal cackles arrive outside the door. The two of them hold their breath in the dark and Jeff has no idea how close they are and can only deduce their proximity from how strongly he can smell her freaking _shampoo_. When there are footsteps going further down the corridor, Annie begins to fumble for the light. "Where is it?" she hisses, frustrated when she can't reach.

Jeff squints and locates a small string dangling from the ceiling and grasps it the same time Annie does. The two of them pull down and when Jeff stops blinking he's looking down at Annie, pressing up against him as she's on her tip-toes, one arm raised in the air and eyes wide. Startled, Jeff stumbles further back into the closet and clumsily falls over in the process, grasping the shelves so as to not land on his ass.

Annie clears her throat delicately, pretending she doesn't notice, and turns the lock on the door. "So now what?"

"We wait."

"For how long, Jeff?"

"Uh..." If both version of paintball and the pillows vs. blankets wars are anything to go by, it could be hours in this closet before the school mellows out and it's safe again. For him, anyway. "You could leave whenever, really. It's not your head that Greendale's gonna be after."

"Why on Earth would you guys do a bear theme?" Annie demands exasperatedly.

"We didn't know!"

"It was on the news all day!"

"It was Chang's fault!" Jeff says.

Annie just huffs, crossing her arms and looking away from him. "I'm not gonna leave," she says after a while. "I mean, people would probably assume I was in charge of the decoration committee anyway so I'm not gonna just leave in you in a closet for God knows how long."

Despite everything, Jeff grins. "Thanks."

Catching his eye, Annie rolls her eyes and reluctantly smiles back. "Don't mention it."

"I won't."

"Good."

"Good."

_"Fine."_

"Awesome."

"Jeff!" she laughs.

"Annie!" he replies, almost laughing himself. There's a shout of _'Winger!'_ and the two of them freeze. When his name is called out again, they scramble for the light simultaneously and stand panting until it appears whoever was after him has given up.

"Maybe no lights for now," Annie suggests.

"That sounds like a plan."

"Good."

"Good."

"Peachy," she says tentatively, and Jeff definitely does not hear the smile in her voice.

"Excellent."

"Splendid." He hears what he assumes is Annie carefully sitting on the floor.

"Spiffing."

"Smashing."

"Using just British ones is cheating."

"I couldn't think of any more!" she defends.

"Amateur," he says, trying to feel for the door so he can figure out how and where to sit down as well. His knee collides with something.

"Ow."

"Sorry," Jeff says immediately. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm - _ow_ , Jeff!"

"Sorry, sorry!" he says again awkwardly. "I just need to -"

"Jeff, just," she huffs impatiently, grabbing his arms and placing his hands on her shoulders. "I am here, so just move around me."

"Y-yeah." _Platonic hand/shoulder holding_ , he tells himself, and squats down on the floor beside her.

"You good?"

"Peachy," he teases and she swats at his arm.

"Repeating is definitely cheating."

"I'm wonderful," he amends.

"I beg to differ."

"Ouch," he says, bringing a hand to his chest and Annie giggles.

They lapse back into silence and Jeff reaches for his phone. Various frantic texts from Shirley and Duncan demanding where he is. Sheepishly he tells them he'll come out when the coast in clear and slips the phone back into his front pocket.

"How exactly was it Chang's fault that you guys made the theme to our dance coincide with a national tragedy?"

Jeff sighs. "He kept saying 'bear down' and we kept saying we didn't know what he meant and then he got upset about how none of us take him seriously so we felt bad and went with it even though the reason he got the word in his head was because of the damn national tragedy."

"And then you lied to me," she points out.

"Yeah, sorry. We tried to fix it."

The light is coming in through the gap in the door and Jeff is barely able to make out Annie's small, but pleased smile. "I mean, as unintentionally insensitive as it may have been, it's nice that you guys didn't want to hurt his feelings. You've come a long way."

He's not sure if he means him, or him and Duncan, or him and Duncan and Chang, but he says, "I had some help," anyway, making a point of looking right at her. It feels important to do so.

Maybe a few years ago the gesture would have made Annie bashfully look away but this time she turns towards him and her smile flickers, eyes searching his face. Her mouth opens, clearly going to say something, but she looks into his eyes and seemingly gives up, sighing and shaking her head defeatedly. It riles something up inside him.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"No, what is it?"

_"Nothing."_

_"Tell me!"_

"Jeff!"

"Annie!"

Exasperated, Annie turns to him in disbelief. "What are we doing?"

"We're sitting in a closet waiting for our crazed classmates to stop trying to burn the school to the ground."

"No, what is this?" she says, gesturing between them. He knows exactly what she was talking about; of course it is. Even when he denied it, he knew it was there, deep down. The Annie of It All. The reason why his gaze would always fall on Annie's; why Rich or any other man be absolutely, never, ever, ever be good enough. Even if he wasn't really either.

"Annie--"

"Let me guess? 'You're just too young'?"

"You're not."

"You just don't see me that way?"

"That's... not true either." It feels safer to say it in a blanket of almost complete darkness.

"Then what?"

"I... relationships are complicated," he finishes lamely.

Annie huffs again and he's about to apologise and make more excuses, the way he always does, but instead Annie gropes for his neck and pulls her mouth to his and suddenly it hits him it's been four years, four years, since he last did this, and his brain just screams, _'Fuck it!'_ and he kisses her back. He puts his arms around her waist and pulls her into his lap, and without missing a beat her legs open on top of his so she's straddling him and the sound he makes is embarrasingly close to a whimper. When she leans forward so her breasts are pushing up against his chest, the sound he makes definitely is one.

The two of them form a rhythm, rocking backwards and forwards against each other in a way that feels so good but every tightening grip she has on his hair tells him it's not quite enough for her either.

He's always loved the way she kissed, he realises; loves to pull away just enough to see the furrow of concentration in her brow, like even this is a task she had to do perfectly. He loves to kiss her and feel the tension in her relax, until their kisses have gone from something fervent and hungry until the slide of her tongue against his is almost lazy.

 _"Jeff,"_ she breathes, pulling away from his mouth.

He's not listening. He's focusing on her neck and cupping her ass and wondering why did she have to start wearing pants now.

"Jeff, I'm serious," she whines, even if her neck is tilting at just the right angle for him to give her a hickey. He just a light suck on the skin there but stops anyway, and can't help but congratulate him on his incredible self-control. She seems to have softened a bit, back to the Annie he's used to having around him, but more pliant somehow; he has half a mind to steal a quick kiss just because he can and subconsciously he starts to lean in.

"Why is it we only ever do this when no-one else is around?" she asks him point-blank, hand on his chest to stop him from leaning in fully. He freezes.

"I-" He really doesn't have an answer. "Annie I'm sorry. I just. Relationships..." He can't even bring himself to finish that sentence again.

"Maybe I'm not looking for a relationship."

Okay, even Jeff won't buy that. He raises a disbelieving brow. Annie rolls her eyes. "Not, immediately, anyway."

She shifts in his lap, smirking when he hisses and threading her fingers together at the back of his head. "I'm not looking for a quick-fix, fairy tale ending for the last four years. I don't expect anything to happen all at once because I expect _you_. I just want - all I've ever wanted was to know that it's not all in my head."

"It's not," he says quickly, and then, because he's feeling brave: "I've wanted to kiss you all year."

"The year's just started," she counters, but she's smiling.

"Last year, then." And the year before that, and the year before that, right up to when he had kissed her for the first time, at that stupid debate and then finally once again during the dance, the panic of having to choose between Britta and Michelle and secret, surprisingly potent relief that _Annie isn't leaving_ pumping through his veins; both times surrendering completely to her just like he is now. Because fighting it became just that bit too exhausting and because he has always had a blind-spot a mile wide when it came to Annie Edison.

Annie rests her forehead on his, her smile wider. "Looks like you just ran out of excuses," she says.

"It looks like you're right," he says, because he's honestly just had enough of fighting this.

Annie beams. "Good."

"Good."

"Mmm, fine."

"Ah, ah, fine."

" _Peachy_ ," she gasps against his mouth and then they don't talk for a while.

They spend a couple more hours in that closet, clinging to each other, determinedly ignoring the phone ringing in his pocket.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and criticisms as always are welcome as long as they're constructive! Thank you for reading.


End file.
